All Features
Quality Digest
More than half the respondents in a recent survey on Six Sigma in manufacturing said they planned to implement the methodology in their work forces within the next six months to two years. The survey also revealed that manufacturers are faced with many challenges specific to labor management.…
Quality Digest
An increasing number of organizations are using Six Sigma to sell and market pharmaceuticals, and a December forum will focus on this new trend. Standardizing and improving the quality of pharmaceutical sales and marketing is more important now than ever as the industry faces increasing regulations…
Quality Digest
Palisade Corp. was recently accredited as a registered education provider with the Project Management Institute. Palisade Corp., which provides desktop risk analysis software and training services, reports that the accreditation will allow project management professionals who attend its project…
Quality Digest
Pelion Systems recently announced the availability of a new solution for managing implementations of lean, Six Sigma and Demand Flow technology. The company, which produces manufacturing process optimization solutions, reports that its new Pelion MPO software complements existing ERP/MRP and APS…
Quality Digest
phoenix/x-ray Systems + Services Inc. has moved its U.S. headquarters from Camarillo, California, to St. Petersburg, Florida. The move afforded the company a more central location to support its American markets and a closer integration with its corporate headquarters in Germany. phoenix/x-ray…
Quality Digest
Sypris Test & Measurement recently announced the addition of a field emission scanning electron microscope (SEM) to its destructive physical analysis and failure analysis laboratory. The new Hitachi 4700 SEM offers high magnification and clearer images, enhancing the laboratory’s already…
Quality Digest
Trillium Software was recently recognized with Customer Relationship Management magazine’s highest possible score for customer satisfaction. The magazine ranked data quality vendors for customer satisfaction in its September issue. The award is given to “reward excellence and achievement among…
Quality Digest
The world’s standards development community is gearing up for World Standards Day on Oct. 14. The celebration is in its 35th year. The theme is “Standards Connect the World.” World Standards Day is celebrated every Oct. 14 as a way of paying tribute to the collaborative efforts of the thousands of…
Quality Digest
The International Organization for Standardization agreed on a five-year road map of progress at its 27th General Assembly last month. The assembly was held Sept. 14-16 in Geneva. Delegates approved the ISO Strategic Plan 2005–2010, which outlines seven key objectives for the organization while…
Quality Digest
The International Organization for Standardization has assigned representatives of Brazil and Sweden to lead the working group that will develop its social responsibility (SR) standard. ISO deliberately paired Sweden, an industrial country with Brazil, a developing country, to encourage…
Quality Digest
The National Standards Strategy Committee recently met in Washington, D.C., to discuss the progress made toward revising the U.S. National Standards Strategy. Twenty-two representatives of the standards and conformity assessment community participate on the NSSC, which has been divided into four…
Quality Digest
A successful peer evaluation by the International Auditor and Training Certification Association recently qualified the Registrar Accreditation Board for a new agreement to enhance worldwide recognition of auditor training courses to ISO 14001. RAB is one of the first organizations to earn an…
Quality Digest
The American Society for Quality is seeking quality professionals to expand its faculty base. Candidates should have at least five years of experience in the following areas: Quality tools and problem solving Statistical process control Six Sigma/Master Black Belts Failure mode and…
Quality Digest
Decisioneering Inc. recently released Crystal Ball 7, the latest version of its popular quality software solution. Crystal Ball 7 gives users greater ability to transform spreadsheets into dynamic models that solve complicated Six Sigma problems involving uncertainty, variability and risk. It…
Quality Digest
Datasweep Inc. recently announced that SAP certified the interface between its Advantage suite and SAP’s enterprise resource planning product line. SAP announced at its North American SAPPHIRE meeting earlier this year its plans to prioritize the integration of its ERP solutions with outside…
Quality Digest
Cole-Parmer’s InnoCal metrology laboratory has upgraded its flow capabilities to include calibration and service for gravimetric and mass flow equipment up to 60,000 sccm. The lab uses the latest DHI molbloc/molbox test standard and offers long-form, NIST-traceable certificates with documentation…
Quality Digest
TapRooT will host a summit in March for quality professionals interested in learning more about their industry. The summit will be held March 2–4 in San Antonio and will include breakout sessions in 11 different tracks, including health care performance improvement, corrective action programs,…
Denise Robitaille
I’ve long been frustrated, both as an auditor and as a consultant, by the unique exemption most organizations extend to distributors. It’s a common practice for purchasing personnel to excuse distributors from the vendor qualification requirements they apply to most of the other companies they do…
Quality Digest
Quality initiatives such as lean and Six Sigma save businesses upward of 10 percent of their annual revenues, according to a recently released study. “Lean, Six Sigma & TQM Project Success: Recent Case Studies and Benchmarks,” performed by consulting firm Best Practices LLC, includes…
Quality Digest
The relationship between the quality of health care and patient illness is being examined in a new book. Lean Six Sigma in Sickness and in Health, by Forrest Breyfogle and Arvind Salvekar, explores the use of lean and Six Sigma concepts in the effective delivery of health care. Through the story of…
Quality Digest
Ixperion recently announced it’s planning to host Six Sigma conferences all over the world this fall and winter. The conferences will examine the use of Six Sigma in different industries. The first will be Oct. 19-20 in London, and will focus on the use of Six Sigma in health care and the public…
Quality Digest
Planners for a January manufacturing, design and plastics exposition will feature the use of Six Sigma to enhance these industries. It will be the first time planners of shows (the exposition is made up of five similar trade shows held simultaneously in the Anaheim Convention Center) will so…
Quality Digest
The American Society for Quality will host its fifth Six Sigma conference in Palm Springs, California, next year. The conference will be held Feb. 7-8 at the Hyatt Grand Champions Resort and Spa. It’s designed for managers who are actively involved in the process of organizational change,…
Praveen Gupta
Six Sigma is implemented to affect the bottom line. In a corporation, Six Sigma starts in operations then moves into design and finally supporting areas. Finance and accounting (F/A) functions are involved to monitor the financials, however, they aren’t involved in practicing Six Sigma. At Motorola…
Quality Digest
The U.S. health care system has huge quality gaps that contribute to 42,000 to 79,000 avoidable deaths every year, according to a recent survey released by the National Committee for Quality Assurance. “State of Health Care Quality 2004,” released on Sept. 23, found that the quality of care…
